Distant Affection
by articcat621
Summary: Hermione mulls over her feelings for her Potions Professor. One-shot!


I don't own Harry Potter at all, but you all know that! Written for "All the Pairings Challenge". Enjoy! :D

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Hermione Granger sucked on the end of her sugar quill, wondering what to write next. She had already talked about the properties and uses of moonstone, but wanted to add something more, something a little extra. She chuckled to herself. It was so like her, to go above and beyond what was required of her. A lot of people thought she did it because she wanted to show off her knowledge, which she did in a small way, but mostly, she just wanted him to notice.

She bit her lip, knowing it would be hopeless. He was her professor for Merlin's sake! Nothing would ever come of her affections. No matter how she wished otherwise.

Figuring she would just talk a bit about the history and possible future of moonstone, she quickly set to writing.

A half hour later, she put her quill down. She was finally finished. She reread it twice, making sure everything flowed nicely and her grammar was correct. She took great pride in her work.

"Merlin Hermione, your essays get longer every week." Ron commented, plopping into the chair next to her.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes Ronald, I always make sure I put everything applicable there."

"Know-it-all," he snorted.

Hermione looked up. "Did you need something Ron? You don't usually visit me here."

He shrugged. "I just wanted to see you, even if it meant coming in the library."

She rolled her eyes. "Bored, you mean."

Ron huffed, leaning back in the chair. "Yes. I mean, Harry and Ginny are together, fine, I get it. But I'm so lonely now. Maybe the two of us should spend more time together," he suggested, smiling at her.

Mentally, she was screaming in frustration. She really didn't want to have this conversation with him, you know I'm busy with schoolwork all the time."

"Well stop it. Let's go for a walk by the lake or something."

That definitely sounded like a date.

"No thanks Ron." She said, as politely as she could. He was her best friend! She couldn't even imagine liking him in any other way. Not when he was always on her mind..

Ron made a face. "Why not?"

Hermione groaned. "Ron, I'm not interested in you _that way."_

His eyebrows shot up. "You're bloody joking!"

She scoffed. "Do I look like I'm joking? Ron, you're my friend. Practically my brother! I don't fancy you."

"But... but I thought that the whole thing with Lavender was because you liked me? You were jealous!"

She shook her head. "That was just because Lavender is a cow. She doesn't deserve you."

Ron's face was getting red, a tell-tale sign that he was mad. "Is there someone else?"

Hermione bit her lip. "No. I suppose not."

"Suppose? So you do fancy something else! Who Mione? Who is it?" He practically shouted.

"Stop it Ronald!" She hissed. He was shouting in the library, of all the places!

"Well?" He asked furiously.

"Yes, if you must know, I like someone, but he doesn't think of me in that way, all right?" She said harshly. She quickly grabbed her things and walked away. She didn't want to hear whatever response he was likely to scrape up.

She was walking down the hallway when she smacked into someone, dropping all her belongings on the floor. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she began, bending over to pick up her things.

Hermione froze when she saw the dragonhide boots. Looking up, she saw the face of Severus Snape.

"Professor Snape, sir, I'm so sorry," she began, feeling idiotic at once. His presence always made her feel like her insides were churning.

He held up his hand to silence her. "I admit I also was not watching where I was going." He bent over and helped her get her books. He handed them to her.

She blushed, taking them. "Thank you Sir."

He arched his eyebrow as he took in her flushed cheeks.

She blushed even more. "Um... See you in class Sir." She said, quickly turning around to walk away. She could feel the heat of his gaze on her back.

Hermione went to her room, dumping her stuff on the floor. Crawling into bed, she sighed.

How could Harry think that Professor Snape was still a Death Eater? Dumbledore trusts him, and so do I.

Hermione knew that he sacrificed so much. He was a double agent, constantly risking his safety for theirs. He was such a good person, and didn't deserve all the negativity people gave him.

She closed her eyes, smiling. He wasn't the dungy Old Bat, he was a person. One who she found to be quite handsome. Sure his hair was greasy, but it was bound to be when you were slaving over potions all day long. His eyes however, those beautiful obsidian eyes, were like daggers, piercing into your very soul.

He was a good person, beneath his snarky persona. Severus cared about them, although she was sure he'd rather die than admit it.

_Severus._ She could only imagine how easily it would roll off her tongue if she were to say it out loud. She didn't dare though, in case anyone would hear.

He was so intelligent, just like she was. They both valued knowledge above anything else, and had very little patience with the dunderheads they were surrounded by.

Hermione always knew that a boy her age would never be able to hold her interest long enough for a relationship to develop, so it was no surprise to her when she became attracted to someone much older than her. In fact, the age difference didn't bother her at all.

Hermione's crush had started out about a year ago, sometime after he was rude to Umbridge. What had started out as foolish daydreams, grew into something more. She looked forward to being near him, loving when he would check her potion over her shoulder. Sometimes, she would linger after class, just to ask him a question on something, even though she already knew the answer.

It was probably creepy on her part, but she didn't care. She had feelings for the man, although she barely knew anything about him.

But it didn't matter, because it would always be an affection from afar.


End file.
